New sanctions against Russia can upset crisis resolution in Ukraine -official

LUGANO, April 26, /ITAR-TASS/. New sanctions the United States and the European Union are threatening to impose on Russia on April 28 is the way in the opposite direction which will only upset the crisis resolution in Ukraine, Yuri Vorobyov, Deputy Chair of the Federation Council (upper house of parliament), said on Saturday, April 26.

“New sanctions by the EU and the US are the way leading in the opposite direction. We have seen this before. On February 21, the decision was adopted, with Poland, Germany and France acting as guarantors, and a protocol was signed. But it was never implemented. Then Russia, the U.S., the EU and Ukraine met in Geneva and made decisions, but no one is going to implement them,” he said.

Vorobyov, who is in Switzerland on a visit as co-chair of the Switzerland-Russia inter-parliamentary friendship group, believes that Kiev bears prime responsibility for this.

“The agreement must be implemented by Ukraine, a country where all these events are taking place. But all sanctions are directed against Russia, which is not clear at all,” he added.

“Any sanctions will only complicate the settlement process and can do no good. It’s a road to nowhere,” Vorobyov said. “I don’t think this is a logical way and I see no logic in such decisions, they are counterproductive.”

At their meeting in Brussels on April 28, the ambassadors of the 28 European Union countries are planning to enlarge the “black list” for Russia. Earlier, a U.S. administration official said that Washington might impose additional sanctions on Russia on the same day and that they would be coordinated with Europe but not necessarily identical.